The Kinetic (comics)
| The Kinetic | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Caliber Comics |
| First appearance | The Jam, Urban Adventure #13 (1995) |
| Created by | Jeff Lang |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Mark Trimble |
| Species | Human mutant |
| Place of origin | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Notable aliases |
|
| Abilities |
|
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The Kinetic is a fictional costumed hero, created by writer-artist Jeff Lang, who originally appeared in American comic books published by Caliber Comics. The Kinetic made his first appearance in The Jam, Urban Adventure #13 (1996).
The Kinetic is the costumed identity of Mark Trimble.
Publication history[edit]
The Kinetic premiered in issue #13 of The Jam, Urban Adventure (1996)[1] published by Caliber Comics. His storyline ended in issue #14 (1997).[2]
Fictional character biography[edit]
Mark Trimble came into his electricity-based abilities when he was 12-years old. They have built in power as he has aged. His abilities scare him at times, but mostly he figures they are nobody's business.
When Mark met Zoe, he realized it was someone else's business. Zoe accepted him for who he is. They got married. Five years later, their son Harry was born.
One day, Mark found a bowling jacket at a flea market. It was from the 60s with leather sleeves and hand-sewn patches. The team was listed on the back of the jacket as “The Kinetics”. Nobody had ever heard of the team. But, somehow, that made it even better. Mark loved that jacket.
Before Mark became a father, he wanted to live in a world that was just and fair. After Harry was born, he just wanted the world to be safe.
One night, a couple of months after Harry was born, Mark was headed home from the library and happened upon a man being assaulted in an alley by two thugs. Mark ran to the man's rescue, tasing one assailant and manhandling the other into submission. Mark helped the injured man out of the alley and delivered him to a police patrol that was parked on the street. He told the police that the man who had just been mugged needed medical attention and the guys who did it were in the alley. Seeing the man was in good hands, Mark took off. The victim told the police his hero was a “Kinetic” because that's what his jacket read. He assumed Mark was part of some kind of gang.
Mark's first act of heroism was more or less an accident. It all seemed so easy. He started going out for “walks” every couple of nights, always wearing his jacket. On these outings, Mark stopped muggings, assaults, and other street crimes. But one night he got careless and was jumped by a mob. He survived, but was severely injured. That was, more or less, the end of the Kinetic.
In the spring of 1996, there were a string of double murders in Philadelphia. The deaths were all women with one male child, anywhere from 6 months to 6-years old. The fathers were never killed. But the killer always made sure the man saw his child die. All of them swore they saw the mother kill the child, which was impossible because the mothers were already dead. It was hard to be a parent that spring.
One day, Mark stopped at the local library to do some research before dropping Harry off at daycare. As Harry waited patiently for his dad to finish. At one point, Mark looked up from his monitor and was surprised to see Zoe standing with Harry. His shock must have caused the glamour to fall, because his vision of Zoe was soon replaced by a dagger-wielding hag, poised to kill his son.
Mark smashed through his computer monitor and drew a charge from the connection. He rushed over, knocked Harry aside, and delivered a full charge to the hag. She quickly fled out a window and escaped into the clouds using balloons that were tied around her waist.
Mark picked up his unconscious son and ran him a super-human speed to the local Children's Hospital. Mark delivered Harry to an orderly before he passed out from exhaustion. Mark woke up in a hospital bed. After speaking with a doctor, he got dressed and went to check on Harry.
Entering Harry's room, Mark sensed something was wrong. He ran to the window and pulled back the curtains to reveal the hag floating just outside. maintaining eye contact, the hag selected one of the balloons from around her waist and bit into it. The balloon exploded with enough force to shatter the window. Mark lay flat on his back on the floor, paralyzed but still conscious. The hag entered the room, pulled Mark to her, and kissed him on the forehead. The kiss formed a psychic connection that allowed the hag shared her origin with Mark.[3]
Mark believes that whatever was left of the young wife woke up a little when he fended off the hag at the library. He thinks that she must have figured out that he was the one who could end her curse. But the evil part of the hag was still in control. She picked Mark up bodily and tossed him out the hospital window.
Mark landed on overhead electrical wires and absorbed more energy than he had ever done before. When he saw the hag attempting to escape with Harry, Mark quickly scaled the outside of the building. He launched himself from the roof, grabbed Harry, and cut the hag loose from her balloons. The hag hit the ground and exploded in a cloud of dust. Mark and Harry landed safely with the aid of the balloons.
When they landed, Mark set the balloons free.[4]
Harry was in pretty bad shape for a while. Zoe was traumatized. They both spent some time at her mom's place to recover.
In the aftermath of events, Mark searched to find answers. He check for references of the hag in every kind of text he could imagine—historical, religious, mythological... There was nothing. He soon realized it made sense why there wouldn't be: no one survived to tell the tale.
Mark hired Jane Marble to perform her own in-depth research and see if she could uncover anything he might have missed. Jane sent Gordon Kirby to Philadelphia to personally deliver her answer.[5] She offered to tear up Mark's bill if he told Gordie about the Kinetic.
Powers and abilities[edit]
Ability to absorb, conduct, store, and discharge electricity[edit]
- Absorbed a full charge from a car battery
- Discharged into lightning rod
- Produced an arc that knocked over a tin can
- Known to throw off ball lightning
- Tased an assailant unconscious
- Pulled and absorbed an electrical charge through a smashed computer monitor
- Jumpstarted a car
- Absorbed a massive charge from an overhead electrical power line
- Delivered 3rd degree burns on the hag's forearms
- Burned through balloon strings
Superhuman strength[edit]
- Leapt up to the roof of a multi-story building
- Leapt from rooftop to rooftop with the assistance of an electrical discharge
- Tossed a man twice his size over his head
- Performed a handstand flip over an assailant
- Rapidly climbed up the side of a building
Superhuman speed and accelerated perception[edit]
- Sometimes feels like his body knows how to do things without having to think about it
- Dispelled a glamour
Accelerated healing[edit]
- Rapidly healed from lacerations, concussions, broken ribs, and blunt-force trauma
- Survived a fall from multi-story building
See also[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
- ↑ Lang, Jeff (w); Mireault, Bernie (a). The Jam, Urban Adventure #13 (1996), Caliber Comics.
- ↑ Lang, Jeff (w); Mireault, Bernie (a). The Jam, Urban Adventure #14 (1997), Caliber Comics.
- ↑ The rulers of a small desert tribe were unable to have a child. They selected her to conceive a child with the King. When the son was born, no one was happy. The young wife felt she should be the new queen. The old queen was jealous of her rival’s child. To restore peace, the King banished his young wife to the desert. She stumbled upon a ruined temple where she was offered power by an ancient darkness if she destroyed her false-husband’s tribe. She struck the deal. On that day, most of her died: only the hatred remained.
- ↑ The balloons were in reality the captured souls of the hag’s young victims.
- ↑ “We have not been able to discover any additional information.”
Source material[edit]
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